August 17, 2011
Hong Kong Exploration
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| Steep car ride |
I've managed to get out and about a bit more in China's better half. After hitting up the Buddha Statue, I took a cable car to the top of Hong Kong Island. The car trip is quite nifty (and the hill is quite steep).
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| View from the top of Hong Kong Island |
I was lucky enough to find some fellow tourists not interested in stealing cameras to take my picture at the top of the Peak Tram. We had quite a few spectacularly clear days for sightseeing. I was certainly glad to get out of the concrete canyons to see what Hong Kong really looks like. It is a city of about 7 million people. I would consider myself to be a bit of a city person (at least, I like good coffeeshops, live music, and the other amenities that the city life provides). Hong Kong is a bit much for me. It is a great place to visit, but more than a month of living there might have me ready to spend some time in the desert.
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| Victoria Harbo(u)r |
Finally, I got to take the famous Star Ferry ride across Victoria Harbor -- at night. Power consumption in Hong Kong must be something spectacular. Not only do most shops have open fronts with A/C blasting, but a nightly light show entertains the tourists.
I go back to Hong Kong in just a few weeks, and hope to check out some of the more nature-y things -- perhaps I'll get to rent a bike and check out some waterfalls.
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Further back...
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Previous Trips...
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Hiking Mount Whitney, 2007 
Spring Break in West Virginia, 2005
New Year's in Paris, 2003-2004
Coming to America, 2003
Protesting in Berlin, 2003
Prague Bier-Tour, 2002
Dresden, 2002
Recent Reading
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Stealing the Network
I first bumped into the Stealing the Network series when reading the exploits of Joe Grand, one of the book's many hacker authors.
The 'Stealing the ...' series of books follows a rather disparate group of computer hackers as they help a former NSA spook (many of them unwittingly) gather the money he needs to retire.
The stories themselves are not fantastic fiction. The writing is uneven and choppy, the characters are stereotypical and not very well thought-out. What is fascinating about this book series is the technical accuracy of the exploits (at some points *too* accurate, with screen shots and step-by-step instructions).
It's a great series to read if you're a system administrator, or just getting into the wonderful field of computer security.
Rated 
by reid
on March 06, 2011
by reid
on March 06, 2011
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Close to the Machine
Ellen Ullman is one of those authors that somehow avoided my radar. Until now...
Close to the Machine is less a book than a collection of loosely related personal anecdotes from Ellen's time as a very rare thing -- a successful female bisexual independent computer programming consultant.
In the course of her work and relationship life, she learns hard lessons about programming, running a business, being lonely, and loving the wrong people. I found it particularly poignant being a crypto-nerd with difficult times in relationships and a more-or-less NDA'd, secret work life.
This book is a must-read for anyone into running their own business, programming, or anyone dating a person that is a business-a-holic or programmer.
Rated 
by reid
on November 23, 2009
by reid
on November 23, 2009
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The Long Trip Home
I had the joy of dining with the author in Florida. We went to a little Brazilian BBQ where he spoke with our waitstaff in (what I can only assume was) flawless Portugese.
Brian Wyllie spent 1969-1971 living in Brazil working for the Peace Corps. His recent book outlines his trip back to the United States via Bolivia, Peru, and the Carribean chain, by way of bus, train, and sailboat. The format comes spattered with observations from the modern day, and makes me think, "this must be what John McPhee's journal looks like."
The trip sounded like a fantastic one, but I was left wanting more detail...where did the gun (being snuck through customs in a variety of places, no doubt) come from? And how did Geneve's hair smell? Alas, we'll have to wait for another book to find the answers.
Rated by reid
on April 16, 2009
by reid
on April 16, 2009